It bugs me when English speakers get the German pronunciation of sounds made by the vowel combinations “ie” and “ei” wrong — especially those English speakers who have lots of interaction with Germans and by extension lots of opportunities to practice reading these sounds. My much more tolerant wife explained to me why this happens so often:
- Those sounds are not represented consistently in English (think “receive” versus “achieve”).
- Not everyone knows the simple rule English speakers can use to pronounce “ie” or “ei” correctly everytime.
I can’t do anything about #1, but I can help you with #2, so here goes:
The sound that the combination “ie” or “ei” will make is always the same of the English name of the 2nd letter.
Thus, the electronics conglomerate is pronounced “see-mens” and not “sigh-mens” and the intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era is prounounced “zyte-guy-st” and not “zeet geest”. Likewise, it really is “franken-styne” and not “franken-steen,” despite what Gene Wilder’s character proclaims.